Associations between four microsatellite markers on chromosome 11 and five on chromosome 13 with performance, carcass and organs traits were investigated in chickens using a least-squares approach applied to single-marker analysis. Three hundred and twenty seven F 2 chickens from the EMBRAPA broiler×layer experimental population were evaluated for 16 traits: five related to performance, five to carcass and five to organs, plus the hematocrit. Two significance thresholds were considered: p<0.05 and p<0.0056; the last value resulted from the application of a multiple tests analyses correction. On chromosome 11, six associations (p<0.05) between the genotypes of two markers with four growth related and one carcass trait were found. On chromosome 13, six associations (p<0.05) between marker genotypes and three performance traits, eight associations (p<0.05) between marker genotypes and two carcass traits and eight associations (p<0.05) between marker genotypes and four organs traits were detected. These associations were indications of the presence of quantitative trait loci on these chromosomes, especially on chromosome 13. In this chromosome, the strongest evidence was for body weight at 41 days of age and percentage of carcass because the p-values exceeded the multiple test threshold (p<0.0056)...

Current views suggest that in women with superficial dyspareunia the prospect of penile–vaginal intercourse automatically activates fear-related associations. The automatic activation of negative associations is assumed to interfere with the development of sexual arousal. In turn, this may further aggravate the dyspareunia-related complaints. To assess whether automatic negative associations are involved in this sexual pain disorder, women with superficial dyspareunia (n = 35) and a control group (n = 35) completed a modified pictorial Affective Simon Task (AST). Questioning the role of dysfunctional automatic associations in superficial dyspareunia, the AST indicated that symptomatic women displayed relatively positive rather than negative automatic associations with sexual stimuli. At the self-report level, however, affective associations with sex cues were significantly more negative for women with dyspareunia than for controls. This discrepancy between “reflective” and “reflexive” affective associations with sexual stimuli in women with dyspareunia points to the relevance of conscious appraisal and deliberate rather than automatic processes in the onset and maintenance of dyspareunia.

Dysfunctional self-schemas are assumed to play an important role in suicidal ideation. According to recent information-processing models, it is important to differentiate between ‘explicit’ beliefs and automatic associations. Explicit beliefs stem from the weighting of propositions and their corresponding ‘truth’ values, while automatic associations reflect more simple associations in memory. Both types of associations are assumed to have different functional properties and both may be involved in suicidal ideation. Thus far, studies into self-schemas and suicidal ideation focused on the more explicit, consciously accessible traces of self-schemas and predominantly relied on self-report questionnaires or interviews. To complement these ‘explicit’ findings and more directly tap into self-schemas, this study investigated automatic self-associations in a large scale community sample that was part of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA). The results showed that automatic self-associations of depression and anxiety were indeed significantly related to suicidal ideation and past suicide attempt. Moreover, the interactions between automatic self-depressive (anxious) associations and explicit self-depressive (anxious) beliefs explained additional variance over and above explicit self-beliefs. Together these results provide an initial insight into one explanation of why suicidal patients might report difficulties in preventing and managing suicidal thoughts.

Socioeconomic and psychosocial factors have been found to be associated with systemic inflammation. Although stress is often proposed as a contributor to these associations, no population studies have investigated the links between inflammation and biomarkers of stress. The current study examines associations between daily cortisol profiles and inflammatory markers interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-a) in a population-based sample of 869 adults with repeat measures of cortisol over multiple days. Persons with higher levels of IL-6 had a less pronounced cortisol awakening response, a less steep daily decline, and higher cortisol area under the curve for the day with associations persisting after controls for risk factors and other cytokines. Persons with higher levels of TNF-a had lower cortisol levels upon waking, and flatter daily decline, although associations with decline were attenuated when controlling for inflammatory risk factors. Higher levels of IL-10 were associated with marginally flatter daily cortisol decline (p < .10). This study is the first to identify associations of basal cortisol activity and inflammatory markers in a population-based sample. Findings are consistent with the possibility that HPA axis activity may mediate associations between psychosocial stressors and inflammatory processes. Additional prospective data are necessary to clarify the directionality of associations between cortisol and inflammatory markers.

Increasing evidence has revealed that microRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the development and progression of human diseases. However, efforts made to uncover OMIM disease-miRNA associations are lacking and the majority of diseases in the OMIM database are not associated with any miRNA. Therefore, there is a strong incentive to develop computational methods to detect potential OMIM disease-miRNA associations. In this paper, random walk on OMIM disease similarity network is applied to predict potential OMIM disease-miRNA associations under the assumption that functionally related miRNAs are often associated with phenotypically similar diseases. Our method makes full use of global disease similarity values. We tested our method on 1226 known OMIM disease-miRNA associations in the framework of leave-one-out cross-validation and achieved an area under the ROC curve of 71.42%. Excellent performance enables us to predict a number of new potential OMIM disease-miRNA associations and the newly predicted associations are publicly released to facilitate future studies. Some predicted associations with high ranks were manually checked and were confirmed from the publicly available databases, which was a strong evidence for the practical relevance of our method.

Predicting hazardous drinking in college students continues to be a serious priority. Emerging evidence suggests that implicit measures may offer additional insight in predicting unique variance in alcohol outcomes. Implicit drinking identity, in particular, may be a powerful predictor of alcohol use. The current study examined the predictive validity of three alcohol-related associations (e.g., drinking identity, alcohol approach, and alcohol cope) using adaptations of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) in a sample of 243 undergraduates. Confirming previous findings, drinking identity associations were the most consistent predictor of alcohol consumption and alcohol problems. They were the only associations that were unique predictors of alcohol use after controlling for other implicit associations. In comparison, alcohol cope and alcohol approach associations were weak but consistent predictors of alcohol consumption and alcohol problems. Although positively correlated with all drinking outcomes, neither set of associations predicted unique variance in the drinking outcomes when all implicit associations were included in the same model. Collectively, these results extend previous findings that implicit drinking identity may be a uniquely powerful tool for predicting alcohol outcomes and a potential target for clinical intervention and prevention efforts.

Fewer than half of Americans meet current recommendations for fruit and vegetable intake. The behavioral affective associations model posits that feelings and emotions associated with a behavior are a proximal influence on decision making. Cross-sectional evidence supports the model and suggests that affective associations predict fruit and vegetable consumption. The purpose of this study was to test whether a causal relation exists between affective associations about fruits and future fruit consumption behavior, as measured by a snack selection task. Following a baseline assessment of cognitive and affective variables, participants’ (N = 161) affective associations about fruits were experimentally manipulated with an implicit priming paradigm. Images of fruits were repeatedly paired with positive, negative, or neutral affective stimuli. The key outcome measure was a behavioral choice task in which participants chose between fruit and a granola bar. Participants in the positive prime condition were three times more likely than those in the negative condition to select a piece of fruit over the granola bar alternative in the snack selection task. They were also twice as likely as those in the neutral condition to select fruit. There were no changes in self-reported affective associations or cognitive beliefs. These findings provide further evidence of the implicit and direct influence of affective associations on behavior...

Quantifying and visualizing species associations are important to many areas of ecology and conservation biology. Species networks are one way to analyze species associations, with a growing number of applications such as food webs, nesting webs, plant–animal mutualisms, and interlinked extinctions. We present a new method for assessing and visualizing patterns of co-occurrence of species. The method depicts interactions and associations in an analogous way with existing network diagrams for studying pollination and trophic interactions, but adds the assessment of sign, strength, and direction of the associations. This provides a distinct advantage over existing methods of quantifying and visualizing co-occurrence. We demonstrate the utility of our new approach by showing differences in associations among woodland bird species found in different habitats and by illustrating the way these can be interpreted in terms of underlying ecological mechanisms. Our new method is computationally feasible for large assemblages and provides readily interpretable effects with standard errors. It has wide applications for quantifying species associations within ecological communities, examining questions about particular species that occur with others...

A number of studies have found a significant link between sleep and psychosocial functioning among university students. A critical examination of this literature, however, indicates that one important gap within the literature is the need for longitudinal studies that specifically test for bidirectional associations between these two constructs. The main purpose of my dissertation was to address this gap by conducting three studies that examined bidirectional associations between sleep and psychosocial functioning among a sample of university students. Participants were 942 (71.5% female) undergraduate students enrolled at a Canadian university, who completed survey assessments annually for three consecutive years, beginning in their first year of university. In the first study, I assessed bidirectional associations between two sleep characteristics (sleep quality and sleep duration) and three psychosocial functioning variables (academics, friendship quality, and intrapersonal adjustment). Results based on cross-lagged models indicated a significant bidirectional association between sleep quality and intrapersonal adjustment, such that more sleep problems predicted more negative intrapersonal adjustment over time, and vice versa. Unidirectional associations indicated that both higher academic achievement and more positive friendship quality were significant predictors of less sleep problems over time. In the second study...

Introduction
Twenty two mostly small studies have reported associations between cerebral palsy (CP) and specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). These data require prospective confirmation in a large cohort. Only one study has examined maternal genetic risk factors for CP. The current large study of mothers and children examines the contributions of genetic and epidemiological factors to CP and their interactions.
Methods
Caucasian children aged between five and 18 years who were born in Australia were recruited with their mothers. Results from 587 case pairs and 1,154 control pairs were analysed. Each mother and child provided DNA using buccal swabs. Multiplex PCR was used to genotype individuals and 35 specific SNPs were included in the analysis. These candidate SNPs have been putatively associated with thrombophilia, inflammation and preterm birth. Mothers completed a health, pregnancy and delivery questionnaire. State perinatal data for each participant provided further epidemiological data, while CP registers provided cerebral palsy diagnosis data. Univariable analysis examined each epidemiological and genetic risk factor individually with Bonferroni correction for multiple testing. Subsequent multivariable analyses were performed combining risks and examining interactions. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals are reported.
Results
Univariable analysis of SNP associations with CP did not confirm the majority of associations reported in the literature after correction for multiple testing. Prothrombin gene mutation in the child remained associated with hemiplegia in term delivered infants where a maternal infection during pregnancy was reported (OR 4.52...

The coupling of electronic medical records (EMR) with genetic data has created the potential for implementing reverse genetic approaches in humans, whereby the function of a gene is inferred from the shared pattern of morbidity among homozygotes of a genetic variant. We explored the feasibility of this approach to identify phenotypes associated with low frequency variants using Vanderbilt's EMR-based BioVU resource. We analyzed 1,658 low frequency non-synonymous SNPs (nsSNPs) with a minor allele frequency (MAF)<10% collected on 8,546 subjects. For each nsSNP, we identified diagnoses shared by at least 2 minor allele homozygotes and with an association p<0.05. The diagnoses were reviewed by a clinician to ascertain whether they may share a common mechanistic basis. While a number of biologically compelling clinical patterns of association were observed, the frequency of these associations was identical to that observed using genotype-permuted data sets, indicating that the associations were likely due to chance. To refine our analysis associations, we then restricted the analysis to 711 nsSNPs in genes with phenotypes in the On-line Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) or knock-out mouse phenotype databases. An initial comparison of the EMR diagnoses to the known in vivo functions of the gene identified 25 candidate nsSNPs...

We applied association analysis to elucidate the genetic basis for variation in phenotypes affecting postcopulatory sexual selection in a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster. We scored 96 third chromosome substitution lines for nine phenotypes affecting sperm competitive ability and genotyped them at 72 polymorphisms in 13 male reproductive genes. Significant heterogeneity among lines (P < 0.01) was detected for all phenotypes except male-induced refractoriness (P = 0.053). We identified 24 associations (8 single-marker associations, 12 three-marker haplotype associations, and 4 cases of epistasis revealed by single-marker interactions). Fewer than 9 of these associations are likely to be false positives. Several associations were consistent with previous findings [Acp70A with the male's influence on the female's refractoriness to remating (refractory), Esterase-6 with a male's remating probability (remating) and a measure of female offspring production (fecundity)], but many are novel associations with uncharacterized seminal fluid proteins. Four genes showed evidence for pleiotropic effects [CG6168 with a measure of sperm competition (P2′) and refractory, CG14560 with a defensive measure of sperm competition (P1′) and a measure of female fecundity...

Introduction: Common variants in genes related to inflammation, innate immunity, epithelial cell function, and angiogenesis have been reported to be associated with risks for Acute Lung Injury (ALI) and related outcomes. We tested whether previously-reported associations can be validated in an independent cohort at risk for ALI. Methods: We identified 37 genetic variants in 27 genes previously associated with ALI and related outcomes. We prepared allelic discrimination assays for 12 SNPs from 11 genes with MAF>0.05 and genotyped these SNPs in Caucasian subjects from a cohort of critically ill patients meeting criteria for the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) followed for development of ALI, duration of mechanical ventilation, and in-hospital death. We tested for associations using additive and recessive genetic models. Results: Among Caucasian subjects with SIRS (n = 750), we identified a nominal association between rs2069832 in IL6 and ALI susceptibility (OR\(_{adj}\) 1.61; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04–2.48, P = 0.03). In a sensitivity analysis limiting ALI cases to those who qualified for the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), rs61330082 in NAMPT was nominally associated with risk for ARDS. In terms of ALI outcomes...

The Milky Way's most luminous, young and massive (M > 10^4 Msun) star
clusters and OB associations have largely evaded detection despite knowledge of
their surrounding H II regions. We search for these clusters and associations
within the 40 star forming complexes from Rahman & Murray in the 13 most
luminous WMAP free-free emission sources of the Galaxy. Selecting for objects
with the dust-reddened colors of OB stars, we identify new candidate
associations using the 2MASS point source catalog. In 40 star forming complexes
searched, 22 contain cluster/association candidates with sizes and masses in
the range of 3' - 26' and 10^{2.3} - 10^{5} Msun. Of the 22 candidates, at
least 7 have estimated masses > 10^4 Msun, doubling the number of such massive
clusters known in the Galaxy. Applying our method to a statistically similar
set of test locations, we estimate that 3.0 +/- 0.6 of our 22 candidate
associations are unrelated to the star forming complexes. In addition, the
apparent extinctions of our candidate associations correlate well with the
predictions from a Galactic model. These facts, along with the clear detection
of a known OB association and the previous spectral verification of one cluster
found by this method, validate our method. Only one of the searched WMAP
sources remains without a candidate. In 8 of the most luminous WMAP sources...

Context: Over the last decade, several groups of young (mainly low-mass)
stars have been discovered in the solar neighbourhood (closer than ~100 pc),
thanks to cross-correlation between X-ray, optical spectroscopy and kinematic
data. These young local associations -- including an important fraction whose
members are Hipparcos stars -- offer insights into the star formation process
in low-density environments, shed light on the substellar domain, and could
have played an important role in the recent history of the local interstellar
medium. Aims: To study the kinematic evolution of young local associations and
their relation to other young stellar groups and structures in the local
interstellar medium, thus casting new light on recent star formation processes
in the solar neighbourhood. Methods: We compiled the data published in the
literature for young local associations. Using a realistic Galactic potential
we integrated the orbits for these associations and the Sco-Cen complex back in
time. Results: Combining these data with the spatial structure of the Local
Bubble and the spiral structure of the Galaxy, we propose a recent history of
star formation in the solar neighbourhood. We suggest that both the Sco-Cen
complex and young local associations originated as a result of the impact of
the inner spiral arm shock wave against a giant molecular cloud. The core of
the giant molecular cloud formed the Sco-Cen complex...

Formation and competition of associations are studied in a six-species
ecological model where each species has two predators and two prey. Each site
of a square lattice is occupied by an individual belonging to one of the six
species. The evolution of the spatial distribution of species is governed by
iterated invasions between the neighboring predator-prey pairs with species
specific rates and by site exchange between the neutral pairs with a
probability $X$. This dynamical rule yields the formation of five associations
composed of two or three species with proper spatiotemporal patterns. For large
$X$ a cyclic dominance can occur between the three two-species associations
whereas one of the two three-species associations prevails in the whole system
for low values of $X$ in the final state. Within an intermediate range of $X$
all the five associations coexist due to the fact that cyclic invasions between
the two-species associations reduce their resistance temporarily against the
invasion of three-species associations.; Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures

Quantifying and visualizing species associations are important to many areas of ecology and conservation biology. Species networks are one way to analyze species associations, with a growing number of applications such as food webs, nesting webs, plant-animal mutualisms, and interlinked extinctions. We present a new method for assessing and visualizing patterns of co-occurrence of species. The method depicts interactions and associations in an analogous way with existing network diagrams for studying pollination and trophic interactions, but adds the assessment of sign, strength, and direction of the associations. This provides a distinct advantage over existing methods of quantifying and visualizing co-occurrence. We demonstrate the utility of our new approach by showing differences in associations among woodland bird species found in different habitats and by illustrating the way these can be interpreted in terms of underlying ecological mechanisms. Our new method is computationally feasible for large assemblages and provides readily interpretable effects with standard errors. It has wide applications for quantifying species associations within ecological communities, examining questions about particular species that occur with others...